Four ideas the club stands on
The whole team joins
Every player signs a waiver. So one booking brings five club members, not one.
No manual work
We already know who came, which room they played and what they paid. Stamps and perks are added automatically.
A passport of rooms
One stamp for each room played. Empty boxes make people want to play the next room.
Points move demand
Double points on slots our forecast sees as quiet. Players move from Saturday to Tuesday, and we pay in points, not discounts.
One passport for NoWayOut, Horror Rooms and Phobia
All three are ours, so the club is shared. One passport, one Wallet card, one account. The booklet has a section for each brand, and a guest who plays in all three gets more than someone who stays in one.
8 escape rooms · JLT and City Walk
5 horror rooms with live actors + 3 horror cinema games · Sheikh Zayed Road, JLT, City Walk
6 escape games · JLT X1 Tower and Red Diamond
Room lists from nowayout.ae, horrorrooms.ae and phobia.ae. 19 rooms in total, plus 3 horror cinema games as special stamps.
Cross-brand perks
- "Explorer of three worlds": one game in each brand unlocks a special badge and a free player.
- First game in a new brand: 20% off. A NoWayOut player is the easiest new Horror Rooms guest.
- Brave path: NoWayOut → Phobia → Horror Rooms, from easy to scary. The app suggests the next step.
- Grand Master for one brand, and Ultimate Grand Master for all rooms of all three.
What changes in the system
- Each room belongs to a brand. Passport, Wallet card, TV and analytics show the brand next to the room.
- The game ladder counts games in all brands together; perks can be limited to one brand.
- Each brand keeps its own look on its pages, stamps and screens.
- Reports per brand and for the whole group.
What we studied and why we win
We looked at Merit Incentives, OnCherry, Love Loyalty (Shopify), Magic Stamp, PlaceAlive and Cleverloyal, plus Dave & Buster's, Topgolf, Bowlero and paper escape room passports. None of them know what the guest did, so the guest has to prove the visit: a QR at the counter, a stamp on the phone screen, a code from the receipt. We already have this data.
| Product | How it knows about a visit | Channels | Room passport | Who gets rewards | Price, approx. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OnCherry | QR at the counter → WhatsApp | no | payer | AED 115–195 / mo | |
| Cleverloyal | QR at the counter, amount typed in | WhatsApp, SMS | no | payer | not public |
| Magic Stamp | physical "stamp" pressed on the screen | own app | stamp card | phone owner | AED 145–365 / site |
| PlaceAlive | staff scan | Wallet | stamp card | card owner | AED 0–80 / site |
| Love Loyalty | Shopify order | website, POS, Wallet | no | buyer | AED 0–1,465 / mo |
| Merit Incentives | big-brand API | reward marketplace | no | brand's customer | enterprise |
| NoWayOut Club | played booking, waiver, POS — automatically | Wallet, web, paper, WhatsApp, SMS, email, POS, app later | yes, per room | every player + payer | our own system |
A normal loyalty program only sees the person who paid
We see everyone who signed a waiver and invite each of them to the club
From the first booking to coming back
The main way into the club is check-in. The guest is already in the lobby with a phone, and we already know almost everything about them.
Booking
Anna books a room. The booking widget shows: "You'll get a stamp and unlock your next perk".
widgetCheck-in
Every player signs the waiver. The next step is "Join the club" in one tap, because we already have the name and email.
check-inWallet card
Done screen: "+1 stamp · 1 of 19 rooms", with Apple Wallet and Google Wallet buttons.
walletThe game
The game master marks the game as played. The stamp appears in the passport.
POS / MultibookingPaper passport
Players who want one get a booklet and a gold room sticker. The sticker number links to the same account.
print3 days later
"2 rooms left to a free player". Plus a hint which room to play next, based on team size and favourite genre.
WhatsApp / email / pushReward
The guest opens Wallet. The perk is already in the widget cart or on the POS check. No code to type.
widget / POSLevel up
After the 4th game the guest becomes an "Explorer": early booking for new rooms and more perks.
levelsStamps and perks. Points later
Simple works best. For the pilot we use the passport and the game ladder only. Points (we choose the name: "Keys", "Coins") come after the pilot if the numbers say yes. There is never a second currency or cashback.
Escape room passport
One stamp for each room played. The stamp keeps the date, escaped or not, and the escape time. Rooms not played yet are grey, with a "Book" button. A new room is added to the passport automatically.
Stamp card
N stamps for anything that matches a filter: every visit, every horror room, weekday visits. After the reward, the count starts again.
Example: "every 10th game, one player plays free". 4 more games to the reward.
Points (after the pilot)
Points are not money. They can only be swapped for a reward from the catalogue. This keeps us clear of gift card and VAT rules, and we can always count what we owe guests in AED.
Levels: up to four, by visits in the last 12 months
- the game ladder
- birthday perk
- early booking for new rooms
- welcome gift
- points ×1.25 (later)
- members-only slots
- free player once a quarter
- free beta tests of new rooms
- book 14 days before everyone
- name on the wall of fame
- secret Grand Master nights
Soft step-down: a level is kept for 12 months after reaching it, then drops one step at a time. 30 days before, the guest gets a warning: "2 visits to stay a Master". No hard resets. Dave & Buster's had to stop theirs after guests complained.
The more games you play, the better the perk
This is the easiest thing a guest understands at the counter. No points, no maths. Each next game of a passport holder unlocks a new step. We change any step, reward or limit ourselves in the admin panel, with no developers.
First stamp, Wallet card, paper passport
Restart from step 2, keep the last step, or "every 5th game, a free player"
Everything is set in the admin panel: one rule = four fields
How it is applied
- A step unlocks when the game before it is played. The perk waits in Wallet, on the member page and at the POS.
- It applies itself at checkout: in the widget after a one-time code or the passport number, at the POS after a scan.
- "A drink for everyone" becomes N drinks at AED 0 on the check, and the bar stock goes down.
Several holders in one team
- By default, one step per booking: the best one for the guest.
- We can allow each passport holder to bring their own step.
- Past games count: when a guest joins, rooms they played before (from waivers since a date we pick) become stamps right away. "You already escaped 3 of our rooms" is the biggest wow moment at check-in.
Perks you don't have to earn
They work as long as the guest has a passport. It's the same rule builder, only the condition is "passport holder", optionally plus a level or passport edition.
Birthday player plays free
The passport holder's share is free if they are in the booking within ±7 days of their birthday. Once a year. Safety: the birthday must be in the profile or waiver for at least 30 days, or staff check an ID at the counter.
Cheaper weekdays
15% off Monday to Thursday before 5 pm. It also fills quiet hours.
A free hint or +5 minutes
A perk inside the game. It costs us nothing. The game master sees it on the booking card.
Beta test new rooms
Masters and Grand Masters play a new room for free before it opens. We need testers anyway.
New rooms first
Booking opens for passport holders N days before everyone else.
Team photo in a passport frame
Free after the game. Guests post it on social media, which is free advertising.
What guests get points for
Everything below is a default template. We change any rule ourselves, and in the admin panel each rule reads as a plain sentence.
Tuesday 3 pm, team of 5, check AED 600
Anna pays. She is an "Explorer" (×1.25). The slot is quiet, so the visit counts ×2. Three of her friends are already members, the fifth player isn't yet.
Until the game, points are "pending". They become available once the game is marked as played. A cancelled booking earns nothing, and a refund takes the points back.
Rewards are things, not codes
At the POS and in the widget, an available reward shows next to the cart and is added in one tap. Love Loyalty's users praise exactly this in their reviews. Behind the scenes, each reward uses a tool our system already has.
Every reward has limits: locations, rooms, days and hours. For example "not on Saturday after 4 pm", so rewards don't eat full-price peak slots. Plus a validity period (90 days by default), stock and a limit per guest.
Where guests meet the club
Check-in
A "Join the club" step right after the waiver. One tap. The club terms are saved the same way as the waiver rules. Minors don't see this step.
Apple / Google Wallet
Member QR, level, passport count, the next perk. It updates itself and shows on the lock screen near our locations.
Member page
Login with a one-time code by email or SMS, no password. Passport, perks, history, level, challenges, invite friends. Can be added to the home screen like an app.
Booking widget
Shows the stamp and perk you'll get, a "join the club" box, one-time-code login, perks in the cart, members-only slots and prices.
POS and Multibooking
Find a guest by passport code, phone or name, or scan the passport QR with a staff phone. The booking card shows who in the team is a member and how many rooms they have: "this is your 6th room!"
WhatsApp · SMS · email
Every club event can start a marketing automation. A block in the post-game email: "+1 stamp, 3 rooms to go".
Paper passport
A booklet with a numbered QR sticker inside. Works without a phone and goes digital with one scan.
AI chatbot
"How many stamps do I have?" The bot answers after a one-time code.
Our own app
A NoWayOut app for guests and an app for our staff.
What the guest sees
Screen mock-ups with example data.
A free channel that is already on the phone
We can send push notifications through the Wallet card. No app needed. For us it's free, unlike SMS and WhatsApp. In marketing, Wallet becomes a fourth channel next to email, SMS and WhatsApp.
Apple Wallet
- The push itself has no text. It only tells the phone the card has changed.
- A notification shows when a card field changes, e.g. "Your next perk is ready".
- For any text, there is a "News" field on the back of the card.
- Guests can turn notifications off per card. Apple has no published limit, but it slows down frequent senders.
Google Wallet
- Real messages with a notification, to one member or all card holders.
- Limit: up to 3 notifications per card in 24 hours.
- A change on the card can also trigger a notification.
Sent to all card holders
- Your perk is ready
- New level
- A perk is about to expire
- A new room is in your passport
Only with marketing consent
- "Double points tomorrow, 2–5 pm"
- Offers and seasonal deals
- About once a week at most
Downsides: no delivery or open stats (we only see link clicks), short text, no images. If the guest deletes the card, pushes stop.
The paper passport: a souvenir that works
Paper is more fun. People show it to friends, keep it on the fridge and collect it, like LEGO passports. The paper passport is a twin of the digital one. The booklet only carries a number; all stamps are stored online. If the booklet is lost, nothing is lost.
Photos are AI renders (Magnific, Nano Banana Pro), not real prints. The mock-ups below show the exact page layout.
Print designs
Designs are AI drafts for discussion. A designer will finish the print files; room lists are taken from our websites.
The booklet, page by page
Passport size, 88 × 125 mm. One page per game, a section for each brand. Scroll sideways.
Every room has its own stamp
Its own colour, picture and text. We can order rubber stamps or create the art with the AI design studio. Plus limited seasonal stamps for Halloween, New Year and UAE National Day: you can only get them on those dates.
Printed perks are honoured as printed
You can't change print. So each print batch is linked to the version of the program printed in it, and honours exactly those perks until the "valid until" date. If we change the ladder, new batches are printed with the new version. A used step is also marked in the system, so a second booklet can't use it again.
Life of a paper passportThe sticker number is the key. Until the guest links it, stamps are saved on the number itself.
How it works inside
1. Credit only for games actually playedA booking creates "pending" progress. It becomes real only after the game.
2. Joining at check-inOur main source of members. The details are already known from the waiver.
3. A perk at the POSStaff don't need to remember promo codes.
4. A guest brings their passportThe manager finds them in seconds, from the counter or with a phone in the lobby.
5. Ready-made marketing automationsAdded to our existing automations. Channels: Wallet, WhatsApp, SMS, email.
Wallet card and "your first perk is on your next game".
A nudge with the next room to play.
The closest room they haven't played, for their team size.
14 and 3 days before it expires.
30 days before: "2 visits to stay a Master".
"Your next weekday game: 1 player free".
Grand Masters get early booking by level.
A perk that works on a group booking.
A live leaderboard on the lobby screen
A TV in the lobby shows who escaped which room, in which brand, how fast and when. It updates in real time, the same way our booking grid already updates live. Teams waiting for their game see the times they have to beat.
Fastest teams this week
Playing now
Latest escapes
collect stamps
Mock-up: timers run and new escapes appear on their own, with example data.
What the screen shows
- Fastest teams today, this week and this season, per room or overall. The screen switches between them every 30 seconds.
- Rooms playing right now, with a running timer and hints used.
- Latest escapes as they happen: team, room, time, how long ago.
- News line: new records, new Grand Masters, room openings, birthdays.
- A QR to join the club, right where people wait.
How it works
- The game master marks "escaped" with the time when the game ends. It appears on the screen within a second.
- It runs on any smart TV or a cheap stick: open one private link in full screen.
- Only the team name the guests chose is shown. No surnames, no photos.
- A team can hide itself with one box at check-in. Kids' parties are hidden by default.
- One screen per location, or one combined screen for all three brands. Every room carries its brand badge: NoWayOut, Horror Rooms or Phobia.
Using perks to fill quiet slots
Revenue radar already knows which slots will be empty tomorrow. The club can put extra perks or ×2 points on them, with a monthly budget limit, and show "Double points" on the member page and in the widget. The slot price stays the same, and demand moves from Saturday to Tuesday. None of the competitors we studied do this.
Example data.
So the club doesn't become a hole in the budget
Fraud
- Credit only for a game actually played: game master mark, waiver or a finished slot.
- Each player gets their own visit, so one person can't collect the whole team's progress.
- Payment with a gift card or a reward earns nothing, so nothing is counted twice.
- Daily limits per guest and per staff member. An alert to the owner if one guest gets manual credits too often.
- One member per email and phone. Duplicates can be merged with their history.
- The referral reward is paid only after the friend's paid game.
- Every credit records who, where and from what. There is a report of manual credits per staff member.
Money and liability
With points, we set the cost of one point. The dashboard shows what we owe guests in AED. This is the number our accountant needs.
- Points expire after 18 months without activity. Warnings 30 and 7 days before.
- Stamps never expire: the passport is a collection.
- Rule changes apply only going forward. What was earned stays.
Privacy
- Joining the club means accepting the club terms; the version and time are saved. Marketing consent is separate and goes into our existing consent log.
- Minors don't join on their own. Later we'll add family membership through a parent.
- Wallet shows the card near our locations using the phone itself. We never get the guest's location.
- When a guest asks to delete their data, we delete the member and cancel the Wallet card. The credit records stay anonymous, so the liability numbers don't break.
ROI down to the dirham
We see every order, so we can measure the club exactly. We compare guests who joined with similar guests who didn't: same first room, same team size, same month.
Dashboard mock-up with example numbers. Plus a "Club" tab in 360° analytics with CSV export and "Ask AI".
NoWayOut mobile apps
Two apps, both under the NoWayOut brand and published from our App Store and Google Play accounts. They live in a separate code repository, and the main system only gives them an API. Old app versions stay on phones for months, so the API must stay backward compatible.
NoWayOut, for guests
- Passport, game ladder, perks, booking, gift cards, check-in, friends.
- More than Wallet and the web page: real pushes with open stats, Face ID, links from emails open straight in the app.
- Texts, colours, perks and banners come from the server. Most changes don't need a new store version.
NoWayOut Team, for staff
- Scan a guest's passport or Wallet card with the phone camera, or type the code: the member card opens with stamps, perks and today's booking.
- Today's bookings, quick check, check-in status.
- Team feed, tasks, shifts, notifications.
- Same login as the admin panel (2FA, Google), same permissions.
Building and signing the apps costs about AED 107 a month (50 builds), more than enough. One app version = 2 builds (iOS and Android). Apple Developer (about AED 365 a year) and Google Play (about AED 92 once) accounts are registered to NoWayOut.
What else we could add
A list for the team workshop. Most ideas are built from the same rule builder; the ones marked "build" need extra work.
On the next room within 30 days. The silver "not this time" sticker is the coupon.
A player without a passport in the team: they get 10% off, the holder gets a bonus stamp.
A free game and a place on the wall of fame. We already have escape times.
A scratch field on the room page or a draw on the member page: drink, hint, 10% off, souvenir.
An unused step goes to a friend, and we get a new guest.
A bonus perk for coming back regularly.
"One year ago you escaped Da Vinci" plus a gift.
T-shirt, pin or keychain at passport milestones.
Fastest teams per room. Top 3 get a free game.
For team building: stamps per event, a reward for the HR person who books.
Halloween, New Year, UAE National Day. Only on those dates.
A badge and a bonus for all horror rooms: a mini collection inside the passport.
Tourists rarely come back. Give them a 30-day pass: second room this week at 20% off, and a reward for sending friends.
A bilingual booklet. The member page also in Arabic and Russian for our big Russian-speaking audience.
Hotel concierges hand out passports; partner cafés nearby give a perk for a passport stamp.
An auto-made Instagram story: team, time, stamp, with a QR that brings friends to the club.
Best times, rooms playing now, latest escapes. See the "Lobby TV" section.
A members-only night: play a room in "hard mode" or a new room before anyone else.
One location first, then all of them
We test at one NoWayOut location for 8 weeks. The pilot includes the game ladder, perks, digital and paper passports with printed perks, joining at check-in, Wallet and the POS. Points, levels and challenges come after the pilot if the numbers say yes.
8 weeks
- Changes without developers: steps, rewards, limits and texts are edited in the admin panel.
- Kill switch: the club can be turned off with one button. New perks stop unlocking, but perks already unlocked or printed are still honoured.
- Staff: an Academy article and test "How the passport works at the counter", a cheat sheet at the POS, a 10-minute weekly review with game masters.
- Guest feedback: a 2-question form after the game and notes from staff.
What we measure
After 8 weeks we decide: roll out to all NoWayOut locations, or adjust and keep testing.
Build order
Pilot: passport and game ladder
Passport with past games, the ladder and perks builder, joining at check-in, member page, Apple and Google Wallet card, POS. Paper passport: numbers, stickers, linking, perks page with a program version. Pilot metrics report.
Club core after the pilot
Points, credit log, reward catalogue for points, stamp card. Only if the pilot proves demand.
Levels, widget, marketing
Levels, expiry with warnings, perks in the widget, members-only slots, events and 8 ready automations, ROI dashboard. Ready print layout for the booklet, room stickers, certificate, passport sold as a product. Live leaderboard on the lobby TV.
Engagement
Challenges, badges, referrals, review and birthday perks. Extra perks on quiet slots from the forecast, card shown near our locations, member page as a home-screen app, chatbot answers about the club.
AI and physical cards
AI program designer with a cost forecast from last year's real bookings. AI art for stamps and stickers. Plastic and NFC cards, family membership, ordering prints from the admin panel.
Membership
A paid NoWayOut membership and season pass, like Topgolf and Bowlero: a free game every month, member prices, priority booking.
Mobile apps
NoWayOut app for guests and NoWayOut Team for staff, in a separate repository.
What the team needs to confirm
Green: proposed and explained above. Yellow: open questions that need an answer.
- A club member is one contactJoining the club is separate from marketing consent. Minors don't join.proposed
- Pilot on stamps and the game ladderPoints and levels come after the pilot. Points are never money.proposed
- Credit only for games actually playedEach player gets their own visit. A refund takes the credit back.proposed
- Wallet is the club cardNo app until phase 6. Wallet push is a new marketing channel.proposed
- Paper passport: black cover, QR sticker on page 2Works before it's linked, then it's one passport with the digital one. Numbers are in phase 1.proposed
- Printed perks are honoured as printedEach print batch keeps its printed version until its "valid until" date.proposed
- Live leaderboard on the lobby TVTeam names only, teams can hide themselves at check-in. Phase 2, or in the pilot if it is quick to add.proposed
- Staff find a passport by code or phone scanAt the POS by code, phone or name; with a phone camera in the lobby. Works from day one through the admin panel, later in the staff app.proposed
- Extra perks on quiet slotsFrom the Revenue radar forecast, with a monthly budget limit.proposed
- Apps in a separate repositoryBoth apps are published from NoWayOut's App Store and Google Play accounts.decided
- One club for three brandsNoWayOut, Horror Rooms and Phobia share one passport, one card and one ladder. We need their logos and room lists.question
- Goal: 50% of players with a passport25,559 players in 2025 → about 12,800 passport holders a year, about 35 a day.proposed
- Pilot: which location?One NoWayOut location for 8 weeks.question
- Ladder steps for the pilot2nd game 20% off, 3rd a 0.33 l drink for everyone, 4th 1 player free. What after the 4th? Birthday free ±7 days.question
- Count past gamesFrom which date do we use NoWayOut waivers so guests get their stamps right away?question
- Paper passport priceFree, or AED 20? Maybe free after the first game?question
- LanguagesEnglish only, or English + Arabic booklet and a Russian member page?question
- Phase 1 scope (pilot)Confirm the list in "Roadmap" before development starts.question